-LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Sweden 's Princess Lilian , the Welsh-born model who lived with her lover Prince Bertil for 30 years before they were married , has died at the age of 97 , the Swedish Royal Court said in a statement .

`` It is with sorrow that I have learnt that H.R.H. -LRB- Her Royal Highness -RRB- Princess Lilian is dead , '' Swedish Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt said in a statement .

`` A much loved and appreciated member of the royal family has now passed away , '' he added .

Born in 1915 in Swansea , Wales , Lilian May Davies was a Vogue model and married to British actor Ivan Craig when she first met Prince Bertil , the current king 's uncle , in 1943 .

Then engaged in wartime work making radios for the Royal Navy , she reportedly met Prince Bertil at a cocktail party for her 28th birthday . Reports about their first meeting vary , with some saying they met at a nightclub called Nuthouse while others that they met on the London Underground .

The two soon became lovers and she divorced her husband in 1945 .

However , due to Sweden 's strict royal succession rules -- which at the time did not permit a contender for the throne to marry a commoner -- King Gustav VI Adolph -LRB- the current king 's grandfather -RRB- would not give his blessing to the union .

Prince Bertil 's two brothers had already renounced their right to the throne by marrying commoners and the only heir , his older brother Crown Prince Gustaf Adolph , died in a plane crash in 1947 .

With a strong possibility that Prince Bertil would have to act as Regent to the present King Carl XVI Gustaf , who was less than a year old when his father was killed , the couple did not marry . Instead , they lived together discreetly in a villa in the South of France .

By the time King Carl XVI Gustaf took the throne in 1973 , times had changed . He himself was married to a commoner and the couple were finally permitted to marry 33 years after they first met , on December 7 , 1976 at Drottningholm Palace Chapel .

Prince Bertil was popular in Sweden where he was dubbed `` Prince Charming '' by the media for his long romance with Lilian . He died in 1997 aged 84 with Lilian at his bedside .

Princess Lilian remained active in public life until her early 90s , attending the Nobel Prize ceremonies adorned in royal jewels . In 2005 , at the age of 91 , she stopped attending the ceremony , citing her advanced years .

In 2010 , she withdrew from public life suffering from Alzheimer 's disease . The couple never had children .

She was the oldest member of the Swedish royal family at the time of her death and , despite the problems that led her to wait more than 30 years to get married , was a fully integrated member of the Swedish Royal family .

People we 've lost in 2013 : The lives they lived

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Princess Lilian dies in Stockholm at the age of 97

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Born in Wales , the divorcee married Prince Bertil in 1976

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Due to succession problems , the couple waited three decades to get married

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She was the oldest member of the Swedish Royal family at the time of her death